Images of the other in contemporary Arab political thought / Orientalism - Secularism - Ideology - Colonialism (eBook)

One can follow the extent of the Arab positions in support of and rejection of the Western statements contained in the body of this study. These positions do not establish a correspondence or a contrast as much as they reveal the mutual influence between the Arab and Western cultures alike, and are concerned - as much as possible - with the images that will be presented to them and nothing else. The analogy in statements between Western and Arab cultures is not the main focus of this study. What can be focused on is the statement of the images or shadows themselves, and the interpretations, readings, and theoretical and practical reactions arising from the influence of the expatriate on the Arab ego. We then face multiple levels of self-representation for the expatriate. We do not require representation to reflect the other in the Arab self, but rather to absorb what benefits the latter from the spirit of the dominant culture. What is useful in understanding representation in general: Explaining how the other is subject to multiple systems of interpretation and misinterpretation as well, as misinterpretation often determines the meaning of what is useful and desired from the process of representation.